Americas Got Talent 10 Semifinals - Semifinal Two: Piff the Magic Dragon and The Professional Regurgitator

(For British Viewers, This Article May Contain Spoilers)

Last night, two magic acts, Piff the Magic Dragon and The Professional Regurgitator, were among the eleven acts competing in the Second Semifinal of Americas Got Talent. With only five places remaining in next week's Grand Final, and two magicians (Derek Hughes and Oz Pearlman) already through, they were under a lot of pressure to impress.

What Did Piff the Magic Dragon Do?

After being criticised for the overly ostentatious nature of his previous performance, Piff the Magic Dragon began by shutting down a lavish into, then provided a routine which allowed him to return to the approach of his first two performances, as he brought out his signature magic table and performed a series of card tricks for the judges. He begun by getting Howie to put two pieces of toast into a toaster, then told Mel B, Heidi and Howard to select a card each. When the toast popped out of the toaster, Piff told Mel B to reveal her chosen card (The Three of Hearts), before, with the name burnt onto one slice and the suit burnt onto the other. Piff then put the two pieces of toast together and bit into them to reveal Howard's Chosen Card (The Ace of Clubs) between the pieces. Piff then promised that his dog Mr. Piffles, who had been shown on a nearby TV screen throughout the trick (He was apparently watching the performance on a deckchair in Las Vegas), would find Heidi's chosen card. He then threw the cards at the TV screen, with one of them getting stuck inside the screen. When Mr Piffles failed to take the card, Piff ran out of the theatre, appeared on the TV screen, and peeled Heidi's Chosen Card (The Seven of Diamonds) off the camera, before returning to the studio with Mr. Piffles. This was easily Piff's best performance to date, as he provided not one, but three creative card tricks, and performed them well, with no visible errors. He also managed to squeeze in a few smaller tricks, such making a small sponge hare appear on Howie's shoulder, and producing a bouquet of flowers when he returned to the judge's table at the end of the performance. Overall, it was a highly enjoyable performance, demonstrating that Piff is every bit as good as his fellow magicians.

What Did the Judges Say?

Howard, Heidi and Howard gave Piff the Magic Dragon standing ovations. Howie told Piff  that he  "[made] us laugh" and "[left] us in wonder" Howard said that he was the second act of the night he wanted to see in the Grand Final (after Stand-Up Comedian Gary Vider) and "got back to business after his previous performance. Heidi finished by saying that Piff was a "Crowd favourite" and looked "Super Sexy" in his dragon costume. Throughout the Judges Comments, Piff poured a large jar of sugar into his cup of coffee. This was not quite as funny as his previous habit of eating after the performance, but it was still amusing to watch.

What Did The Professional Regurgitator Do?

The main problem with The Professional Regurgitator has always been the disgusting nature of his act, so he chose to address this by performing a set of regurgitations that were actually quite beautiful to watch. He began by swallowing (Or rather drinking) smoke, washing-up liquid and water, then regurgitated bubbles made up of the washing-up liquid and water. The Professional Regurgitator then created a giant bubble between his hands and regurgitated more smaller bubbles into it, before filling another large bubble with regurgitated smoke. However, there was still some smoke in The Professional Regurgitator's stomach, so he swallowed a raw egg whole, displacing the remaining smoke, then regurgitated the egg, completely undamaged. I don't think that this was as impressive as The Professional Regurgitator's other performances, but it was easier to watch, and therefore more likely of appealing to viewers (Although, to be fair, The Professional Regurgitator is doing a great job of appealing to viewers already).

What Did The Judges Say?

All four judges gave The Professional Regurgitator standing ovations. Heidi called him "My absolute favourite this entire season". Mel B described him as "Incredible". Howie said that The Professional Regurgitator was "Wonderfully disgusting". Howard finished by calling The Professional Regurgitator "The Most Original Act" and saying that he should join Gary and Piff in the Grand Final.

What Was The Competition Like?

The standard was very high this week, with the majority of acts giving their best performance to date. 3 Shades of Blue placed more emphasis on their instruments, with their lead singer doing a good job of controlling his rock vocal. Gary Vider told more jokes than usual, with some being amusing, but for the second performance in a row, his climactic joke was the weakest of the routine. Alondra Santos confirmed her focus on Latin Pop, but was overshadowed by her backing band. Freelusion Dance Company introduced robots to their act, but made this change work due to some incredible visuals. Alicia Michilli started slowly, but did a surprisingly good job of controlling her high notes in the second half of her performance. Daniella Mass provided an unusual song choice (A Spanish version of the Roy Orbinson classic "Crying") but emphasised a lower, more powerful, operatic voice. Uzeyer Novruzov's performance started well, but he failed to pull off a critical move and ended up falling off his giant ladder. Sharon Irving sang "Imagine", demonstrating what an expressive and powerful signer she was. Finally, Paul Zerdin used Howie as a "Living Dummy" and got him to dance on stage, proving that his technical skill and showmanship are what make him stand out as a great ventriloquist.

Verdict 

Both Piff the Magic Dragon and The Professional Regurgitator have a Very Good chance of making it to the Grand Final. Both acts provided strong Semifinal performances, and have been highly popular with the judges and viewers. Therefore, it is not a surprise that Howard singled them out as acts who deserved to make it through.

Americas Got Talent 10 Semi Finals - Semi Final Two Preview: The Professional Regurgitator and Piff the Magic Dragon

(For British Viewers, This Article May Contain Spoilers)

Last Week, both Derek Hughes and Oz Pearlman made it into the Americas Got Talent Grand Final, due to be held next week. Tonight, The Professional Regurgitator and Comedic Magician Piff the Magic Dragon will be among the eleven acts competing for the remaining five places in the Grand Final.

What Should The Professional Regurgitator Do?

For the most part, the problems with The Professional Regurgitator are less to do with his level of skill than the very nature of his act. His ability to swallow and regurgitate a wide variety of objects is impressive and unique, but it is not pleasant to watch. Like sword swallowing and other sideshow acts, regurgitation is great for those who enjoy it, but makes many viewers feel uncomfortable.  I appreciate The Professional Regurgitator's talent, but, due to the disgusting nature of his act, I don't think he'll win the million dollar prize, in spite of the support he has received from the judges, especially Howard and Heidi, That said, the Professional Regurgitator is good at making his unusual skill into an act. He has a strong sense of showmanship, and is good at making all his performances differ from each other, even when repeating ideas (In both his Audition and his Judges Cuts performance, The Professional Regurgitator swallowed coins and regurgitated them in an order specified by the judges, but both performances were distinct enough for the second to not feel like a copy). Even if he doesn't win the competition, The Professional Regurgitator has succeeded in his goal of gaining a wider fanbase.

What Should Piff the Magic Dragon Do?

Going into the Live Shows, Piff the Magic Dragon was the magic act to beat. He was funny, had a wonderfully unique approach, but best of all, his card tricks were creative and impressive. However, he dropped the ball during his Live Show performance. Whilst he still provided some amusing quips, the trick he performed was yet another variation on the Smash And Stab routine, but with the life of his dog Mr Piffles placed on the line instead of his own. Smash And Stab-type tricks are so common on AGT that they no longer seem impressive, and using Mr. Piffles in such a fashion probably made a lot of dog-loving viewers feel very uncomfortable. Furthermore, there is a risk that Piff is beginning to lose the novelty value that made his first two performances stand out. This is made apparent by the fact that his signature running gag, in which he eats increasingly elaborate  meals during the Judges comments, has ran its course - it will be very hard for Piff to take it further without making it seem too ridiculous. Therefore, Piff needs to place further emphasis on his skills as a magician. Numerous magicians on AGT have been able to get far due to their showmanship rather than their tricks, but when viewers get tired of the presentation, the magic needs to be made even better in order to maintain their support.

What Is The Competition Like?

The other nine acts competing tonight are:

• 3 Shades of Blue (Rock Band)
• Alicia Michilli (Jazz/ Soul Singer) 
• Alondra Santos (Mariachi / Latin Singer)
• Daniella Mass (Opera/ Classical Singer)
• Freelusion Dance Company (Videomapping Dance Duo)  
• Gary Vider (Stand-Up Comedian)
• Paul Zerdin (Ventriloquist) 
• Sharon Irving (Gospel/ Soul Singer) 
• Uzeyer Novruzov (Ladder Acrobat) 

Predictions

I think that the Professional Regurgitator is Almost Guaranteed to make it to the Grand Final. In spite of my doubts about his chances of winning, The Professional Regurgitator is a very unique act who is receiving plenty of support from viewers. In contrast, Piff the Magic Dragon's chances of getting through depend on how well his Semifinal performance goes. If it's a success, he will be seen as a major competitor again. However, if his performance is another disappointment, Piff will become the only magician this year not to make the Grand Final. For now, his chances of making it through are Moderate.


A Word On The Illusionists

Americas Got Talent 10 Semifinals - Semifinal One: Derek Hughes and Oz Pearlman

(For British Viewers, This Article May Contain Spoilers)

What Did Derek Hughes Do?

On paper, Derek Hughes' Semifianl performance sounded like a potential disaster. A version of the Torn and Restored Newspaper routine performed whilst wearing pyjamas . Even the idea of Derek doing a "sentimental" routine dedicated to his children did not inspire much confidence, as the magician Drew Thomas failed to impress when he used that theme in Series 4 of AGT. However, Derek's routine was far better than I expected. Derek told the audience that he wanted to read a bedtime story to his children, and told a tale about Humpty Dumpty, using a picture book to aid him. The story Derek told depicted Humpty Dumpty's attempts at escaping his miserable life by creating a ladder to climb over the wall surrounding his kingdom. As he told his story, Derek tore the picture book up before showing the pieces, claiming that the kingdom believed Humpty Dumpty had fallen off the wall and broken into bits of eggshell. He then stated that this story was misleading, and restored the picture book to its original state, except for one missing piece. Derek revealed that this piece had fallen to the floor as he was restoring the picture book - it showed an illustration of a smiling Humpty Dumpty, representing his successful escape. The Torn and Restored Newspaper routine is one of the oldest tricks in magic (even though this is the first time it has been performed by a magician on AGT), but I liked the twist Derek put on it. He provided a very smooth performance, even managing to make a few moments where he interrupted the story or dropped pieces of the torn book seem entirely natural. During the Judges comments, Derek stated that he had created the story himself (a friend had illustrated the picture book for him) and he deserves praise for coming up with such a creative story and telling it so well. Derek's showmanship and personality have allowed him to stand out, and even with the slower, quieter nature of this routine, Derek continued to emphasise those two defining features.

What Did Oz Pearlman Do?

For his Semifinal performance, Oz Pearlman promised to "loosen things up a bit" with a routine themed around party drinks. Judges Howard and Heidi joined Oz on stage, and he begun by showing Howard five cups, each one filled with a different drink (from left to right, the drinks on the table were: Wine, Orange Juice, Cola, Beer and Water). Oz then told Heidi to cover his eyes, before asking Howard to take a sip from three of the cups at random. Even with Heidi covering his eyes, Oz was able to correctly predict the cups that Howard had chosen as he was drinking from them. Oz then repeated this process, but instead of predicting the three cups that Howard had chosen one at a time, he waited until Howard had drank all three cups to correctly guess the ones Howard had drank from in the order he drank them. Once he had done this, Oz then turned his attention to the remaining judges, Howie and Mel B, and asked them to think of a drink. He wrote down the drink he thought Mel B had chosen, showed his prediction to Howard and Heidi, then Told Mel B to reveal her chosen drink. Needless to say, Oz's prediction (a dirty Vodka Martini) was correct. Oz  finished his routine by correctly guessing the drink that Howie had chosen (A strawberry, banana and chocolate smoothie). Oz's routine was probably superior to his previous performance, as he did not do anything that exposed his secrets, and, as with his Judges Cuts performance, he was able to combine a number of impressive Mentalism feats into a single performance with a single strong theme.

What Was The Competition Like?

 Puppet Act Ira opened the show by placing greater emphasis on character comedy, but their old-fashioned song choices made their routine seem less impressive. Bluegrass Band Mountain Faith Band tried to provide an edgier song choice, but their lead singer was out of her depth, and their instrumentalists did not get enough opportunities to stand out. Motocross Stunt Bikers Metal Mulisha Fitz's Army did not do enough to differentiate their latest routine from their previous two. RnB/ Soul Singer Samantha Johnson's performance started slowly, but came to life in the last thirty seconds or so. Stuttering Comedian Drew Lynch provided his best performance to date, cancelling out his speech impediment with a routine that allowed him to emphasise his ability at controlling his body language  as he re-enacted an unusual phone call. RnB/ Soul Vocal Duo The CraigLewis Band delivered some powerful vocals, but sounded like they were fighting for attention during their harmonies. I didn't enjoy Rock/Country Singer Benton Blount's performance, due to his emphasis on high notes that did not suit his rough rock vocals, but he seems to be very popular with Facebook and Youtube users. Videomapping Dance Troupe Siro-A repeated many of the effects from their first two performances, but were still generally impressive to watch. Preteen Opera Singer Areille Baril was the last act of the evening to perform, and though she has a very powerful voice, I think that her similarities with Jackie Evancho will prevent her from being a potential winner. In spite of the fact that my summary emphasises the flaws of the various competitors, they all proved themselves worthy of their place in the Semifinals, and they all represent formidable opposition to Derek and Oz.

Verdict

Although I enjoyed Derek's Semifinal performance, he might have been overshadowed by flashier acts, so his chances of making the Finals are only Moderate at best. If he makes it through, it will probably be as a Judges Choice. In contrast, Oz has a Good chance of making it through automatically. He represents the sort of variety act that AGT viewers love, and the Judges were full of praise for him. I'm not sure if he can win, but he will prove a very strong finalist if he makes it though.

Americas Got Talent 10 Live Shows - Week 3: Oz Pearlman and Stevie Starr

(For British Viewers, the Following May Contain Spoilers)

(N.B: I've been on holiday the last week, so instead of posting my review before the results show, I'm posting it afterwards. instead of providing a prediction of the results as I normally do, I'm going to reveal the results in the post as I did when reviewing the Judges Cuts)

Last week, twelve acts performed in the third and final heat of the Americas Got Talent Live Shows. They included Mentalist Oz Pearlman and "Professional Regurgitator" Stevie Starr (Now referred to as The Professional Regurgitator by the show).

What Did Oz Pearlman Do?

Having already read the judges' minds in his first two performances, Oz Pearlman got the judges to read his mind instead. He began his Live Show performance by showing the judges a glass jar full of gumballs. He then engaged the judges in a guessing game, telling them to guess the number of gumballs in the jar. Oz confirmed that there were more than 100 gumballs inside the jar and less than 1000, with the exact number written in an envelope given to host Nick Cannon at the beginning of the routine and held by him throughout. He told the judges to write down their guesses on small individual whiteboards and reveal them, with Howard having to change his guess to a different one because he had written the same number as Mel B. Nick finally opened the envelope to reveal that the exact number of gumballs in the jar was 327, two more than Mel B's prediction of 325. Oz then showed an Instagram video revealing that he had correctly predicted how close Mel B would come to getting the right amount. He then told Nick to reach into the jar and take out a small piece of paper buried beneath all the gumballs. This piece of paper was a receipt, with a twelve-digit item number made up of the four three-digit numbers chosen by the judges, with Howard's final prediction forming the first three numbers, Heidi's prediction forming the next three, Mel B's forming the third set of three, and Howie's prediction providing the last set of three numbers. Overall, this was a great routine. My main issue with Oz has been his overconfident performance style, but I enjoyed the more comedic approach he took this time, as he engaged in some amusing banter with Nick and the judges (Most notably, he told Heidi to stand and turn around in a circle in an attempt to read her mind, then revealed that he had done this because he was reading the minds of "all the men in America"). Furthermore, I loved the idea behind the trick, and thought that the climax was strong enough to justify the lengthy set-up. However, there was one problem with the performance, and that was the fact that some eagle-eyed viewers were able to see Oz pulling off a major move during his performance. I won't go into any further detail, but the viewers who noticed this were especially vocal in their attacks on Oz when using social media after his performance. Oz needs to consider this in the future and try to hide his secrets a little better, as even a few criticisms on sites like Facebook and Youtube will affect his popularity. However, that cannot detract from the fact that Oz's routine was highly enjoyable and he's generally a great mentalist.

What Did The Judges Say?

Due to the length of the performance, the judges had less time to deliver their critiques then usual (in fact, Heidi was unable to comment), but their opinions were all positive. Mel B called the performance "amazing". Howard  praised Oz for "making him feel like an idiot" and praised his sense of showmanship. Finally, Howie described Oz as "The Wizard of Oz"

What Did The Professional Regurgitator Do?

After showcasing a number of smaller regurgitation tricks in his intro video, The Professional Regurgitator promised to "do something different" for his Live performance. He began by swallowing a ring belonging to Heidi (which was worth $500,000), then swallowed a closed lock, followed by the key used to close it. The Professional Regurgitator then promised to open the lock, place the ring inside, and close it again (all within this stomach), then regurgitate the lock with the ring locked inside. He managed to do this (with both the ring and lock remaining totally dry), but the key remained in his stomach. The Professional Regurgitator solved this problem in the same way as he had in his previous two performances. He swallowed an even larger object (in this case, a pool ball), which displaced the key, allowing him to regurgitate it. before regurgitating the pool ball. I've been unsure about whether or not The Professional Regurgitator should be classified as a magic act, but there was a strong element of magic to his performance - is it really possible to do all this with merely your stomach muscles? (This explains why Howard later linked The Professional Regurgitator to the magic category during his post-performance comments). Though I saw The Professional Regurgitator perform this trick on Britain's Got Talent in 2010 (The only major difference was the fact he did not use a pool ball to retrieve the key that time), but it is still highly impressive. However, most of the problems that I've had with The Professional Regurgitator since his audition remain. His act is not comfortable to watch, and also a bit limited - how many tricks can you perform in which you swallow objects and regurgitate them in an unusual fashion? Therefore, whilst he is likely to do very well on this show, I don't think that the Professional Regurgitator is a potential winner.

What Did The Judges Say?

Howard, Heidi and Howie gave The Professional Regurgitator standing ovations. Heidi, who has been an especially vocal fan, said that it was "Incredible" and called it "the most unique act that I've ever seen in my life". Mel B said she felt "Violated" by the act due to its disgusting nature, but called it "Exciting to watch" Howie called The Professional Regurgitator "The best act of the night", but then spoiled things when he said that The Professional Regurgitator "made Bulimia entertaining" (He apologised for this tasteless comment later in the show). Howard finished by calling The Professional Regurgitator a "rock star" and said he was at least "a top five act", if not a potential winner.

Who Made It Through?

Given the high levels of praise they received from the judges and viewers, it is not a surprise that both Oz and The Professional Regurgitator made it through. Apart from them, the acts who made it through to the Semifinals were:

• Jazz/Soul Singer Alicia Michilli
• Opera/Classical Singer Daniella Mass
• Videomapping Dance Trio Freelusion Dance Company
• Stand-up Comedian Gary Vider
• Bluegrass Band Mountain Faith Band

(N.B: Motocross Stunt Bikers Metal Mulisha Fitz's Army were initially eliminated from this heat, but will be returning as Wildcards to ensure that there are an even number of acts in the Semifinals)

This Week: Eleven acts will compete in the first Semifinal, fighting for five places in the Grand Final. Oz Pearlman and Derek Hughes will be representing the magic category, and will compete against the following acts:

• Arielle Baril (12 Year-Old Opera Singer)
• Benton Blount (Rock/Country Singer and Guitarist)
• Drew Lynch (Stuttering Stand-up Comedian)
• Ira (Singing Puppet Act)
• Metal Mulisha Fitz's Army
• Mountain Faith Band
• Samantha Johnson (Rnb/Soul Singer)
• Siro-A (Videomapping Dance Troupe)
• The CraigLewis Band (RnB/Soul Vocal Duo)